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Days out can be expensive, especially when you have 6 weeks to fill. So here's our handy guide of things to do in and around Southend this summer that will hopefully save you a few pennies!
As well as the below, don't forget to check out our 'What's on' Calendar for lots of events throughout the summer. We have handpicked a few of the free events below but there are many more on our calendar and more being added regularly.
Remember that although the events or activities may be free, there may be parking costs to consider. For any activities in Southend, the monthly Southend Parking Permit at £10 per month could save you a huge amount of money on parking and you could even just sign up for the summer and cancel in September if you think you may benefit. I would highly recommend taking a packed lunch for days out to really keep your costs down!
☀�1. Herd in the city trail - FREE - Running from 14th July - 4th September, the art trail is completely free to follow and gives you the chance to become a tourist in your own city
☀�2. Animal Feeding at The Green Barn Farm Shop - FREE - A working farm and shop in Benfleet, join them every day at 11.00am during the summer holidays to help feed the animals. Free to attend and no need to book! Click here for poster
☀�3. Leigh Art Trail - FREE - Running from 8th July - 16th July. Various events running throughout the trail including Chalk Fest on 15th July where kids can chalk all over pavements at Chalkwell Park
☀�4. A day at the beach - FREE - We couldn't have a list of free activities in Southend without including a beach day! Check out our beach category for ideas on where to set yourself up for the day!
☀�5. Visit a local library and join the Summer Reading Challenge - FREE - Running from 22nd July - 2nd September for children aged 4 to 12. There will also be an Early Years Challenge for children under 4 as part of the fun. You can sign up from 15th July
☀�6. Castle Point Transport Museum - FREE (Donations welcome) - Open to public on their Open days- Sunday 16th July, 20th August and 17th September.
☀�7. Outdoor Cinema at The big screen (The Forum) - FREE - Every Saturday throughout August and no need to book. Showing Kung Fu Panda, Space Jam, Surf's up and Cars.
☀�8. Summer activities at Hadleigh Hub - FREE - Family activities including Kite Making, outdoor games, animal trail and small farm animals and songs and stories under the trees. Dates across July and August. No need to book!
☀ï¸�9. Just Ride Southend - £2.50 donation per rider, carers and parents of children riding are free and welcome to ride.
☀�10. Southend Splash Fountains - FREE - Don't forget to take a towel and why not have a play in Poodles Park, directly opposite on the beach whilst you're there.
☀�11. Free activities at Belfairs Nature Discovery Centre - Belfairs Big Butterfly count and walk, Nature Tots Summer Taster, Mud Pie Monday, Marvellous Minibeats and incredible insects:sweep netting, and Woodland storytime: The Very Hungry Caterpillar. You can see the full list of events on our guide here.
☀�12. Find a school/community summer fete on our 'What's on guide'. There are lots planned and many are free entry so only pay for what you do
☀�13. Southend Family centres have a timetable of FREE activities over summer. Click here for activities for Under 1's only and here for 0-5 years.
☀�14. Hadleigh bike park - FREE - With bike tracks for all ages, play areas and walking trails, you can easily spend a full day at Hadleigh Park.
☀ï¸�15. Canvey Miniature Railway - Just £1 for a single ride or 6 rides for £5.00
☀�16. Activities at Southend Libraries - FREE - As well as the Summer Reading Challenge, Southend Libraries have a variety of free events running on selected dates including: Beatbox sessions, Ready Set PLAY, Ready Set BUILD, Anime drawing workshop and Fairy Tale moments. Must book ahead and check age restrictions!
☀�17. Southend Pride Festival - FREE - Taking place on Saturday 15th July with stalls, children's tent, food and entertainment
☀�18. Emergency Services day at City Beach - FREE - The first of three events is being held on Wednesday 26th July.
☀ï¸�19. Feed the ducks at Southchurch Park - FREE - Remember bread is harmful to ducks so you could always take along some oats or cereal or pay £1 to buy some food from the eco-friendly duck feeder that was installed last year.
☀ï¸�20. Walk Southend Pier - £2.50 adults, £1.50 children - Pick up a Wildlife Watch Leaflet from the Visitor Information Centre for just £1 and tick off what you see on the way.
☀ï¸�21. Craft activities with Hobbycraft Southend - From £5 per activity, Hobbycraft are once again running their craft workshops including Make you own Windchime, Summer Clay creatures, personalised keyring and canvas painting.
☀�22. Take a picnic and visit a local park from our Out and About Category- FREE - From parks, playgrounds, woods and nature reserves. Take your pick!
☀�23. Family Film night at Hadleigh Park - FREE - Taking place on selected Thursday evenings. Check out the 'Hadleigh Farm Secret Cinema Club' on Facebook to find out the Monday before, what will be shown. All films are U rated and you do not have to book.
☀�24. Visit a museum - FREE Most museums are free or ask for a small donation. Throughout July, you can have a free tour of Southchurch Hall, Prittlewell Priory are holding an Anglo-Saxon weekend on 5th and 6th August and there is a Space day at Southend Central Museum on Weds 26th July.
☀�25. Classic Cars on the beach - FREE - Four events before the end of the year -16th July, 20th Aug, 17th Sept, 15th Oct 9am-4pm. A display of classic cars on City Beach
☀�26. Big up Southend Craft Markets - FREE - Taking place on the last Saturday of the month in The Victoria Shopping Centre, Big Up Southend is not only a craft market but an open mic event with lots of children's craft activities available.
☀ï¸�27. Hadleigh Farm Rare Breeds Centre - Adults £5.50, Child 3-16 £4.50, Under 3's FREE. Animal feed is available to purchase on arrival for 40p per bag or 3 bags for £1.00. With animals, a play area and sand pit, you can certainly get a few hours of entertainment at the most local farm. Make sure to take a picnic as there is no cafe or refreshments on site!
☀�28. The Ironworks Summer Festival - FREE entry - Join The Ironworks for their summer festival with entertainment, craft markets and workshops.
☀�29. Feel Good Festival at Garon's Park - FREE entry - Not just free entry, but free bouncy castles and family fun activities too. An event for the whole family!
☀�30. Family Fun days at Southend Family Centres - FREE - Taking place at three different family centres on three dates across summer, the family fun days are a great free day out for under 5's!
☀�31. Fruit Picking at Hilltop Farm, Benfleet - A local hidden gem! A bit of a different activity if you want to get out for a walk - Pick your own fruits from this lovely local farm. Check their Facebook before you visit for updated opening times and what fruit is ripe and ready!
☀ï¸�32. Garon Park fun day with Gemmas Farm - 2-16 year olds £5 - Two dates in the holidays, Garon's are welcoming Gemmas Farm to their fun days. Once entry has been paid, ALL activities are free for the day.
☀�33. The Bean Machine - Cost of a few drinks and spend the morning chilling in their outdoor area. With a bus seating area, cozy domes, a swing and free bouncy castle, it's the perfect way to spend a morning in the sun. They also sell light snacks such as sandwiches and bagels.
☀�34. Go Swimming at one of Fusion Leisure Centres
☀�35. Go Crabbing at Chalkwell Beach - FREE - If you don't fancy a full on beach day (or if the weather isn't suitable) why not go Crabbing instead? There's lots of spots perfect for it along Southend beaches.
☀ï¸�36. Spend the day at Leisure Island Fun Park - £7 wristbands for the whole day and suitable from 18 months - 9 years of age.
☀�37. Music in the park at Priory Park - FREE - Running every Saturday and Sunday until the end of summer from 3.30-4.30pm. Bring a picnic and a blanket. Have a wonder around the flower gardens, feed the ducks or head over to the play area.
☀ï¸�38. Open top bus ride - Be a tourist in your own town and sit on the top deck of the open top bus. £5 return for adults and £3 for children or get a day ticket £6.50 adults and £4.00 children and hop on and off as much as you like. (If you get on/off outside Lemon Witch on the Broadway, show them your bus ticket for 10% off all shakes)
☀�39. A Dino'rrific Encounter at The Victoria Shopping Centre - FREE - For one day only (11th Aug) head to the Victoria to get involved with the Dino Discovery of uncovering fossils. Just one of the many events they have planned this summer.
☀ï¸�40. Punch and Judy show at Leigh Community Centre - £2.70 plus booking fee. There are 3 showings on the day and price includes a free ice lolly. Must be booked in advance.
☀�41.Go Bonkers event at Wat Tyler park- FREE - A completely free event, just bring along a picnic. Bouncy castle fun and an opportunity to check out the new play area installed earlier in the year.
☀�42. Inflatable fun days at Chalkwell Park and Priory Park -Taking place on Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout the summer.
☀�43. Spend the day at Shoebury Common Park and the beach - FREE - Our favourite park in Southend and perfectly situated close enough to the beach to get a change of scenery after lunch and grab an ice cream at Uncle Tom's on the way past. Great for all ages!
☀�44. Yoga4all Adult and Child yoga classes - FREE - Three weeks of a FREE summer timetable at different locations for all ages. Yoga4all are trying to raise funds towards their community classes and programmes, so take the children along for a different type of fun, all for a good cause! Donations can be made at class for their summer fundraiser. Click here for their summer timetable.
☀�45. Visit Two Tree Island Nature Reserve - FREE - Two Tree Island is an ideal location for bug spotting and bird watching! Grab the kids a cheap bug hunting kit or make them a scavenger hunt and see what they can find!
☀�46. Ride the cliff lift - FREE - The shortest funicular railway, run by volunteers. Ok so this is a very short activity and isn't enough to fill the day but can be a good focus to get out of the house during the long six weeks holidays when you're desperately trying to find something different to do! Make sure you check opening times beforehand.
☀�47. Take in the views on top of Rayleigh Windmill - FREE - The grade II listed buildings is open Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays and you can explore the windmill, join in the virtual tour and climb to the top with free entry. There will also be children's activities including the chance to try their hand at milling flour.
☀�48. Hockley Woods - FREE - Hockley Woods is always guaranteed to be a good day out. As well as the woods, you have the large play area and sand pits for before or after your walk!
☀�49. Summer Workshops at The Song School - FREE - Two separate events for children to have the opportunity to play instruments and take part in music workshops in rhythm, vocals, spoken word and playing as a band for those with experience.
☀ï¸�50. Play mini golf at Dinos Encounter Crazy Golf - 14 and under £4, 15+ £6. An 18 hole family friendly dinosaur themed crazy golf course which is suitable for children and adults of all ages. They also have a bar and large beer garden with a small slide for the kids.
☀�51. Visit Hadleigh Castle - FREE - A perfect spot for the kids to let off steam and have a picnic.
☀�52. Go Geocaching - FREE - Download the app and take kids of all ages on a real life treasure hunt around Southend
☀�53. Southend City Jam - FREE - Street Art festival taking place in Southend from 1st - 3rd September
☀�54. Make use of any annual membership you have at Adventure Island or Sealife Adventure .You can also use your membership and get 50% off to play crazy golf at Adventure Golf.
☀�55. Follow a character trail such as The Gruffalo Trail - FREE - Other trails include The Stick Man at Weald Country Park, The Wind in the Willows at Hanningfield Reservoir, Peter Rabbit Trail at Langdon Hills Nature Reserve, Zog Trail at Thames Chase
☀�56. Hyland's Estate - FREE - Spend the day at Hyland's in their award winning castle themed adventure playground and with 574 acres of parkland, there's lots of space for walks/picnics and ball games.
☀�57. Hanningfield Reservoir - FREE - Hanningfield have a number of events taking place across the summer including Woodland Story time with the Gruffalo. Or you could grab a map and follow the Wind in the Willows trail. At the Discovery Nature Centre, there is a cafe on site and a good sized play area near the car park.
☀ï¸�58.Maldon Promenade - FREE - The Promenade has everything you could want for a day out whether or not you choose to spend any money. With an impressive play area, sand pits, crabbing pool, skateboard park and BMX track. You can also pay for the splash park, which is a reasonable £3.25 for a 25 minute session for one adult and one child or you could visit Maldon Petting Zoo or the Adventure Golf. Throughout the holiday, there are inflatable fun days running every Wednesday.
☀ï¸�59.Stubbers Adventure Centre - For the admission entry fee of £3 adults and £4 children (FREE for under 5's), you get access to Adventure play areas with a young adventurers area and a bigger play area for the older ones, woodland discovery trail and sand play and paddle beach. All other activities have extra charges however you can certainly get away with not paying for activities with the amount of activities already included in the entry fee.
☀�60. Lathcoats Farm - PYO fruit or use the cafe or farm shop and customers get FREE entry to see the farm animals and ride on tractors. A really lovely morning or afternoon - If you want to pick you own fruit, make sure you book online!
